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Carakiller
|name = Carakiller |kingdom = Animalia |phylum = Chordata |class = Aves |order = Falconiformes}} The '''carakiller' is a species of giant predatory flightless bird native to the Amazon Grassland of 5 million AD. It is a descendant of the caracara, and, through convergent evolution, closely resembles the terror birds which hunted the same area dozens of millions of years prior. Evoloution With flight being rather expensive requiring many energies such as muscles, tendons and hollow bones, after the death of the rainforest the ancestral counterpart of the Carakiller the Caracara gave up the concept of flight on the whole. With Caracaras being birds of prey allocating large periods of time hunting and scavenging for whatever small rodents and invertebrates they can find, already spending great amounts of time on land the Caracara was able to invest those energies in running, evolving into a huge, flightless bird. Biology The Carakiller is highly reminiscent of that of terror birds, with long, sturdy legs similar to dinosaurs, the Carakillers wings have become claws. The Carakiller has a powerful beak, capable of crushing the skull of an adult Babookari, what stands out most about the Carakiller is the coloration, comprised primarily of reds and yellows, with a display of feathers at it's head. These are used for communicating when hunting (as shown in the documentary). These may also be used to display aggressive behavior during confrontations, intimidating other individuals, warding off other predators or possibly to impress mates. Behaviour The Carakillers communicate through vocal noises, communicating allows them to work effectively Babookaris, the feathers on the Carakillers head may be either to display aggressive behavior, intimidate other individuals ,ward off other predators or even to impress mates. Their breeding system is similar to ratites such as ostriches and emus: multiple females mate with a male and lay eggs in one communal nest. The male then guards it, leaving occasionally to feed. The causes for a communal nest are the same as in the said ratites: it is easier to guard a single, large nest than multiple smaller ones. The nest itself is a depression in the ground lined with vegetation. Ecology Carakillers are one of the Apex predators of their ecosystem, being highly specialized in pack hunting, despite being the dominent predator, Carakiller eggs are often discovered and eaten by rattlebacks, due to their desire to eat Carakiller eggs, Carakillers however are protective mothers and may attack the rattlebacks, though a hit from the Carakillers beak cannot penetrate the rattlebacks tough, armoured hide. Extinction With the end of the ice age, the world warms up and the Amazon is yet again a tropical rainforest. The animals of the Prairie, adapted to grassland life, go extinct.The Future Is Wild: A Natural History Of The Future In The Documentary In the documentary a carakiller hunting party was shown, successfully taking down a babookari. It's evolution was also shown. At one point, a rattleback was caught red-handed by a carakiller when it attempted to raid a nest. Later, near the end of the documentary, the gigantic birds are shown feeding on whatever animals fell casualty to a bushfire. In the animated series Major appearances Minor appearances Criticism Many viewers found the carakiller impractical, arguments include that it would take many tens of millions of years to transition from flight to ground dweller and that it would be more plausible for the bird to kill prey with kicks rather than using its beak. A better candidate would be the seriema, which is already a terrestrial predatory bird, whose distant relatives are the extinct terror birds. In general, a more likely path of evolution for the caracara would be to evolve a vulturine body form. List of appearances *''The Future Is Wild'' **1x01. Welcome to the Future **1x04. Prairies of Amazonia *''The Future Is Wild: A Natural History of the Future'' *''The Future Is Wild'' manga **02. Amazon Grasslands *''The Future Is Wild'' animated series **1x11. Sign of the Time Flyer **1x18. Monkey Brains **1x24. Queen of the Squibbons, Part 1 **1x25. Queen of the Squibbons, Part 2 **1x26. Snowstalker in a Strange Land *''The Future Is Wild: The Living Book'' Gallery Documentary= FIW_1x4_Carakiller_appears.png FIW_1x4_Carakiller.png FIW_1x4_Carakillers_hunting.png FIW_1x4_Carakiller_looking_down.png FIW 1x4 Amazon Praire carakillers.png FIW_1x4_Carakiller_bending.png FIW_1x4_Carakiller_attacking_rattleback.jpg FIW_1x4_Carakillers_in_smoke.png |-|Promotional= 5m-carakiller-600px.jpg Amazon Grasslands.png Amazon graslands neu.jpg Carakiller running.jpg |-|Models= Amazon Praire statues.png Carakiller statue 2.png Carakiller statue.png Carakiller DE.jpg |-|Merchandise= Future Is Wild figures.jpg In other languages Notes and References Navigation Category:Animals Category:Birds Category:Organisms of 5 million AD Category:Organisms of the Amazon Grassland Category:5 million AD